Truthfully, the first time I heard ZZ Top I didn't really want to sound like Billy Gibbons. My introduction to the band was as a teenager, watching a compilation of the MTV videos they had put together for their best selling album Eliminator. I had only recently started playing the guitar, and...
There are very few albums that capture the essence of a musician as accurately as Rory Gallagher - Irish Tour '74. It is an album that brilliantly highlights the musical qualities for which Gallagher is renowned; the blistering guitar playing, raw vocals and relentless onstage energy. But more than that, the album...
The Ibanez Tube Screamer is one of the most popular guitar pedals of all time. Initially made famous by Stevie Ray Vaughan, it has since been used by a whole variety of notable blues guitarists, including Gary Moore, Joe Bonamassa and John Mayer, amongst others. Many aspiring guitarists have added a...
One of the key ways to develop as a blues guitarist is to improve your timing. It is what separates average guitarists from those that are truly exceptional. And it is a skill that all of the best blue guitarists have in common. Yet despite its importance, it is a...
Texas Flood, by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble was the album that got me hooked on the blues. Like so many others, I first heard it as a teenager, a couple of years after I started playing the guitar. It was the first time I had ever heard a guitarist...
Duane Allman is one of the greatest blues and rock guitarists of all time. During his short life and career, he changed the landscape of the blues. He adapted and built upon the bottleneck style of bluesmen like Elmore James, blending the blues with country rock and roots music. In...
It is not easy to play a killer blues shuffle. The masters of the shuffle - players like Jimmy Reed and Muddy Waters in Chicago, and Lightnin' Hopkins and Stevie Ray Vaughan in Texas - make it sound effortless. Yet whilst the shuffle might be simple in form, it is difficult...
I can still remember when I learnt how to play the blues shuffle. At just 12 years old, it was the first time that I had ever played the blues, and it had me hooked almost instantly. It marked the beginning of what has since developed into a deep love...
The blues shuffle rhythm is one of the most common rhythms you will encounter in the blues. It is present in a whole range of different styles - from Delta blues, to Chicago blues, to Texas blues. It is instantly recognisable, sounds amazing and features in many of the most famous...
If you want to be a proficient blues guitarist, you need to understand the basics of blues rhythms. In some of my previous articles, I have covered the basic form of the blues, and some of the most common variations on this form. If you haven't yet read those articles,...
Truthfully, the first time I heard ZZ Top I didn’t...
There are very few albums that capture the essence of a...
The Ibanez Tube Screamer is one of the most popular guitar...
One of the key ways to develop as a blues guitarist is to...
Texas Flood, by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble was...
Duane Allman is one of the greatest blues and rock...
It is not easy to play a killer blues shuffle. The masters...
I can still remember when I learnt how to play the blues...
The blues shuffle rhythm is one of the most common rhythms...
If you want to be a proficient blues guitarist, you need to...
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